Weekly Wrap-Up #44 : Pixel 2 XL, iPhone 8, Xperia XZ1, Honor 7X, Android Oreo Updates & More….

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Here is the latest PhoneRadar weekly wrap-up with all the latest happenings around the smartphones and mobile technology. We have seen some exciting launches here in India. In the next couple of weeks, there are a couple events scheduled for the global launch of the flagship smartphones. In case if you are interested to know more about the upcoming launches, check out our list of upcoming smartphones expected to launch in the month of October 2017.

Let’s take a look at the news from the last week:

• Firstly, the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are now available in India, that too in just a short span after the U.S launch. Both the devices come in 64GB and 256GB storage options and the pricing starts from Rs 64,000 respectively. Instead of the unibody metal design, the new Apple iPhones sports glass on front and back. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus comes with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch New Retina HD displays with Apple’s True Tone technology. Under the hood, they come powered by the A11 Bionic hexa-core chipset coupled with the first Apple-made GPU. They also support fast charging and wireless charging. The iPhone 8 packs a single 12MP rear camera with OIS and quad LED flash. On the other hand, the iPhone 8 Plus packs dual 12MP + 12MP rear camera setup with f/1.8 aperture, OIS, and quad LED.
• At the IFA 2017, Sony announced the Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact smartphones with Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. A couple of days back, the company launched only the Xperia XZ1 in India. It is priced at Rs. 44,990 and comes with the same boring Omnibalance design. On the front is a 5.2-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) HDR Triluminos display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the top. The device is powered by Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor coupled with Adreno 540 GPU. There is 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage that can be expandable additionally up to 256GB. On the rear of the Xperia XZ1 is the 19MP Motion Eye camera with f/2.0 aperture and 5-axis image stabilization. It can record slow-motion videos in 960 fps. For selfies, it is equipped with a 13MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 lens.

• Google will be launching the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones in the next few days. While the leaks already revealed the design and pricing, now we also got the know key specifications of the devices. Talking about the displays, the Pixel 2 XL will sport FullVision display with Quad HD+ resolution, 18:9 aspect ratio, and wide color gamut support. On the other hand, the Pixel 2 will look similar first-gen Pixel devices and comes with a Full HD display. Both the devices come with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front and include Active Edge feature which works same as EdgeSense on HTC U11. The devices will be powered by Snapdragon 835 processor and run on Android 8.0.1 Oreo out of the box. In the camera department, the devices are said to sport Pixel cameras on the front and back with OIS and a dedicated Google Imaging Chip. The Pixel 2 will be backed by a 2,700mAh battery, whereas the Pixel 2 XL comes with a bigger 3,520mAh battery.
• The Chinese smartphone brand, 10.or (Tenor) has launched its second smartphone called 10.or G on Amazon India. It comes in 3GB and 4GB RAM variants and the pricing starts at Rs. 11,999. The device includes a 5.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) IPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It is powered by 64-bit Snapdragon 626 octa-core processor coupled with Adreno 506 GPU. The 10.or G sports dual camera setup on the rear with the 13MP RGB and 13 Monochrome sensors. On the front is a 16MP camera with LED flash for selfies and video calls. With all these specifications, the smartphone is backed by a 4,000mAh non-removable battery. It runs on Android 7.0 Nougat and is guaranteed to receive the Android 8.0 Oreo by the year-end.

• Just before Diwali festival season, OPPO has launched the OPPO F3 Diwali Limited Edition smartphone in India. It comes in Red color and is priced at Rs. 18,990, which is Rs. 1,000 cheaper than the original OPPO F3. Earlier to this, the company also launched the Deepika Padukone Limited Edition and Limited Edition Black variants of OPPO F3. Talking to the OPPO F3 Diwali Limited Edition device, it comes with a cricket bat signed by Indian Cricket Team. The USP of the device is the dual selfie cameras featuring 16MP and 8MP sensors. It comes with 5.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) display and packs MediaTek MT6750 SoC, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage. On the rear of the device is the 13MP sensor with PDAF and LED flash. However, the device still runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow based ColorOS 3.0 out of the box.
• After launching the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, and Nokia 6, HMD Global has launched the flagship Nokia 8 in India for Rs. 36,999. It will be available through major retail outlets along with Amazon India. It runs on the latest Android 7.1.1 out of the box and the company mentioned to release the Android 8.0 Oreo update by end of October. The Nokia 8 comes with a 5.3-inch Quad HD (2560 x 1440 pixels) display. Under the hood, it packs 2.45GHz Snapdragon 835 processor and comes coupled with Adreno 540 GPU and 4GB of RAM. There is 64GB of internal storage that can be expandable up to 256GB via a MicroSD card.  On the rear of the device is the dual camera setup featuring 13MP RGB sensor and 13MP Monochrome sensor with Zeiss optics lens. The device backed by a 3,090mAh non-removable battery and comes with Quick Charge 3.0.

• Huawei has already launched the Maimang 6 and Nova 2i smartphones with 18:9 displays. Now, its sub-brand Honor is getting ready to bring its first smartphone with 18:9 display. The company will unveil the Honor 7X smartphone on October 11th in China. It said to sport the 5.5-inch or 6-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio and four cameras. If the rumors are to be believed, the Honor 7X will soon launch in India. The device will be powered by the in-house Kirin 670 octa-core processor and includes 4GB/6GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of internal storage. The should be running on Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box with the highly customized EMUI 5.1 laid on top. Talking about the cameras, the device will most likely offer dual cameras on the front and rear of the device.
• We already know the Android 8.0 Oreo update for the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T is currently in beta-testing stage. last week, we also spotted the Geekbench listing of the Oneplus 5 device running on Android 8.0 Oreo. All the three OnePlus devices are now running on Android 7.1.1 Nougat based Oxygen OS. While the public release of Oreo update can’t be expected anytime soon, the company might soon open beta testing for its users. The Android 8.0 Oreo brings some exciting changes to the UI along with a bunch of new features. With the background execution limits, we might finally some good battery optimizations on Android. Other new features include Picture-in-Picture (PIP) Mode, Autofill API, Notification Channels, Adaptive Icons, and many more.

• The Gionee M7 Power is the latest smartphone from Gionee to launch in international markets. It is the same Gionee Big Gold Steel 2 that was launched in China. While the Gold colored variant comes with the laser-cut finish, the Black and Dark Blue colors will be feature diamond-cut finish. The smartphone sports a 6-inch HD+ (1440 × 720 pixels) FullView display with 18:9 aspect ratio and offers 85% screen-to-body ratio. It packs Snapdragon 435 processor, Adreno 505 GPU, and 4GB of RAM. There is 64GB of onboard storage that can be expanded up to 256GB via a MicroSD card slot. It runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box with the highly customized Amigo 5.0 OS on the top. In terms of optics, the Gionee M7 Power sports a 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and an 8MP front camera for selfies. The 5,000mAh non-removable battery on this device should easily last more than a day of heavy usage.

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